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DC Entertainment is refusing to allow the Superman logo to adorn a memorial statue of Jeffrey Baldwin, who was starved to death by his grandparents.

Jeffrey Baldwin is shown in a Halloween costume in this undated handout photo released at the inquest into his death. (SUPPLIED PHOTO / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Artist Ruth Abernethy is shown with the unfinished statue she is making of 5-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin, who starved to death while in the care of his grandparents.
(CARLOS OSORIO / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

DC’s senior vice-president of business and legal affairs, Amy Genkins, told Boyce in an email that “for a variety of legal reasons, we are not able to accede to the request, nor many other incredibly worthy projects that come to our attention.”

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DC declined to comment.

For Boyce, it was a huge blow, as he felt the Superman aspect was a crucial part of the bronze monument, which will include a bench. The coroner’s inquest heard from Jeffrey’s father that his son loved to dress up as Superman.

The statue of 5-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin will likely be unveiled in Greenwood Park in September. (Carlos Osorio/TORONTO STAR)

“He wanted to fly,” Richard Baldwin said. “He tried jumping off the chair. We had to make him stop. He dressed up (as Superman) for Halloween one year … He was so excited. I have that picture at home hanging on my wall. He was our little man of steel.”

Jeffrey’s love for the superhero was also highlighted at the inquest as a representation of Jeffrey’s bravery. He and three siblings were taken away from their parents by the Catholic Children’s Aid Society and sent to live with their maternal grandparents in Toronto’s east end.

There, Jeffrey and an older sister were kept locked inside a cold bedroom, devoid of toys. They had little access to food, and were forced to live in their own feces. Jeffrey died of starvation on Nov. 30, 2002.

His grandparents, Norman Kidman and Elva Bottineau, were convicted of second-degree murder in 2006.

“I’m sort of empathetic to (DC’s) point of view on this, but I feel very strongly that the image of Jeffrey is so powerful,” said Boyce. “It’s the image of a vulnerable boy dressed up as the most invulnerable character in the universe. So I just feel like there’s something lost if we change it.”

Boyce said he understood DC’s stance, in that he felt they didn’t want the Superman character associated with child abuse.

In the end, he said, he feels he has no choice but to modify the life-size statue of Jeffrey, which is nearing completion. He said the City of Toronto wanted assurances that the monument would not violate any copyright laws before it proceeded with Boyce’s request to have the monument placed in Greenwood Park, near where Jeffrey grew up.

Boyce said he will probably have the “S” shield on the Jeffrey sculpture changed to a “J.” He said the statue, by noted Ontario sculptor Ruth Abernethy, is now at a foundry where it will be cast in bronze. It’s likely to be complete by the end of the summer. He said he’s hoping for a fall unveiling.

Abernethy, whose other works include a statue of Oscar Peterson outside the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, said she couldn’t bear listening to media reports of the coroner’s inquest, and often turned the radio off.

She said she hopes the monument will serve as a reminder that everyone must watch out for defenceless children and be vigilant against child abuse.

“Because Jeffrey didn’t have that opportunity (to grow up), we are reminded of our obligations,” she said. “This is a reminder that we all have the option to do better and the obligation to not let this happen again.”

The monument will feature Jeffrey standing on a bench inscribed with the signatures of some donors. It will also have a poem sent by one of Jeffrey’s sisters engraved along the top, accompanied by a Hot Wheels car. The sister’s name is protected by a publication ban.

Part of the poem reads: “I wish Heaven had a phone so I could hear your voice again/I thought of you today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday, and the days before that too.”

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